Doug laid the fire that lasted well into the next morning’s light, safety first is his middle name (he survived Vietnam under cover so this was a breeze), Juan & Mon’s basil rat was a treat – the only folks who didn’t march in out of the dark were the Patterson family this year (they had their own effort on Sat July 5 2008). The messages were tied to the beast and they all went up into the heavens – good riddance we all said!

The first afternoon I stayed at Tunbridge with Juan, we walked out to the east and saw a double rainbow. The arc was so small I was just blown-away, I had never seen the sun pushing through so far down from the equator . . . I managed to capture this shot from the upstairs drawing window during our last visit. Below is the smaller blog image:

. . . two & a half weeks back in the studio . . . terrific work in hand . . . full moon tonight – solstice two days away . . . Kate (and Robert Edwards) roll over accounts tomorrow + Dr Ben Panizza, the throat surgeon gave mal E a clear bill of health today, next visit in 6 months! & . . . it’s almost Happy New Financial year time! . . . so in the Northern hemisphere the ink is starting to thaw out, the penciled-in accounts are now starting to be inked in! Does everyone realise that the June start of the financial year started very early on in Europe and was actually weather driven?

I’ve posted this picture of Ray & Pat returning with their bag full of pottery truffels, we will eventually do a pair of large jardiniere’s for the house with these shards. For the moment we are collecting what ever we find, everytime we dig and plant another tree we un-earth more old pieces of the past. So, they say never go into a new year with an old cracked piece of porcelain – it’s bad luck. They were real believers in times past . . . thats for sure.

I wandered into Ray & Pat’s kitchen early in the morning, the plastic cord I had borrowed to secure a load was returned and left on the counter . . . overnight the end had flipped over and presented itself as above so I captured the shot immediately. It reminds me of another recent titty image shot by another (much younger) Brisbane professional photographer – Megan Cullen. Her blog is here.

The bench photo below shows the progress of the first 10 penny cuts, while I have no intentions of becoming a jeweller it was a great experience to start to feel the tool’s balance, the cutting power of the blade and the ‘pert & vert” to use a clock makers term – getting your cut perpendicular and vertical. Seriously, I’m away with it!

I thought I’d post a few of these recent communications, Barbara says straight-up that she can’t draw . . . she says she draws directly into the metal and if the plan calls for wax she carves instead of drawing. When clients want to see the final design drawn up . . . it’s basically a waste of time, we negotiate that they review the wax with the gems in place . . . and if it’s straight into the metal, then that is sorted out before we start into the make. With that said, I believe that Barbara does lovely drawings. Here’s another one below and I’ve added one of the many that I was engaged to do on the run this week responding to a Melbourne customer’s request.

Also a few years ago, Michel Sourgnes curated a drawing show of mainly sculptors from his stable and asked Barbara to participate . . . I remember she said “oh no, I can’t draw” . . . his quick retort was ‘well Barbara, you have drawn up two commissions for our family so far and I believe the success of both commissions were partly due to the drawings, so you had better be in the show’? I had fun preparing around 16 digital prints using scans of many earlier Bh drawings. Here’s a few .pdf versions:

Concept Statement: The work references the universal forms and specific patterns of historic Queensland architecture by grouping three simple units into a series of relationships.

Each unit is perforated with patterns derived from two historic Ipswich houses, ‘Mona Cottage’ and ‘The Chestnuts’. The patterned perforations like their architectural prototype, imply both protection and barrier, they define permeable boundaries that permit light but also cast shadows.

Here – I’ve posted a suggested installation done by Barbara but actually the install is up to the client, the x28 units can be configured anyway (anyone) sees fit – build a mansion or build a compound:

Dear Malcolm, we spoke on the phone just now regarding your participation in the Picasso – ‘Show & Tell’ series as part of our (Up Late program) at the Gallery of Modern Art. We are excited to confirm you to speak on the night for Friday 13 June. For your reference, the 15 minute talk will take place at 6pm, and will be repeated at 7pm. It will take place within the ‘Picasso & his collection’ exhibition space. As discussed, I will arrange for a Gallery staff member, preferably Amelia Gundelach, to introduce you on the night. Kindest regards,LIZZY DIXON | Project Officer, Education & Public ProgramsAccess, Education & Regional Services T: + 61 (0)7 3840 7061 | F: + 61 (0)7 3842 9175 E: lizzy.dixon@qag.qld.gov.au

With true Picasso irreverence, that friend of GOMA, maverick designer and collector from Brisbane, Malcolm Enright is bringing in some of the stools he has collected over the past 40 years. Please note; they are all wooden, from local generic Australian milking stools, to highly decorated Highland New Guinea ones, personalised items from Oceania, Timor, Borneo, The Philippines, some utilitarian pieces from Japan and China.